The Life of Loss and Love
by bookbaby03
Summary: Hermione thought she had the perfect life, she was with the love of her life. Soon she finds herself alone and torn apart. But the one person she never thought of comes to put her back together.
1. Behind These Hazel Eyes

_Broken up, deep inside_

_But you won't get to see the tears I cry_

_Behind these hazel eyes_

-Behind These Hazel Eyes by Kelly Clarkson

It was only the middle of October, when the only worries for the students of Hogwarts should be the fact that the school work was getting harder. This wasn't the case for Hermione Granger though. She wished that her only worries were her school work and her Head Girl duties. However she had to worry about avoiding the person she least wanted to see, which was extremely hard because _He_ was in almost all of her classes. It had been a week since _He_ had broken her heart. No those weren't the right words, it was more like _He_ ripped her heart out of her chest, tore it to pieces and scattered it across the Forbidden Forest so she could never put it back together again. Hermione had spent the last week trying to pour all of her attention into her school work and on the outside she looked perfectly fine, but on the inside she was slowly falling apart.

As Hermione walked into Defence Against the Dark Arts, she rushed past the table that _He_ was sitting at and sat down at the table the furthest away. To everyone else in the room it seemed like she was completely composed but she knew that one look at Him would break down her resolve and she would start sobbing in the middle of the classroom.

Class passed by without Hermione breaking down and quickly packed up her things and made her way out of the classroom. She made her way through the corridors without a single thought to where she was going. Frankly, the last week she had been in a daze. Her mind had shut down and her body just followed her natural instincts and routines. Soon enough she found herself standing outside the portrait that guarded the entrance to the Head's quarters. Hermione quietly gave the password and slipped through the portrait hole. She quickly glanced around the common room and was thankful to see that Malfoy was nowhere to be seen. She had finally come to accept the fact that he had somehow been named Head Boy and that she had to share the Head's dorms with him, but it was nice not to have to deal with his snide comments. She sat her bag down on the table in front of the fire and then her stomach growled slightly reminding her that it was dinner time. She silently thanked whoever had the idea to put a kitchen in the Head's dorms and walked over to it to grab something to eat. After she got her food she grabbed her bag and went up to her room to study, eat and avoid the outside world.

A while later the sound of the shower starting up in the shared bathroom alerted Hermione to Malfoy's return. She glanced out the window and realized that it was later than she thought as dusk had already started to set in. She waited until she was sure that Malfoy was out of the bathroom and then went in herself to take a shower. After she was done she went back into her room, changed into her pyjamas, cleaned up her desk and settled into bed with a book.

Hours later, Hermione tossed and turned in bed. Every time she closed she saw _Him_ breaking her heart all over again. Giving up on sleep, Hermione crawled out of bed, grabbed a cloak and made her way out into the corridors. There was only one place Hermione knew she could go to clam herself down and that was why she found herself climbing the stairs of the Astronomy Tower. Once she reached the top she went outside and sat on the ground, leaning her head back against the wall and gazing up at the stars. They danced around in the sky without a single care in the world and Hermione wished she could be among them, far away from the pain of human emotion. Sighing, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her mind immediately jumping to the one place she didn't want it to go.

*A week ago*

There _He_ was, holding her hand as they walked around the lake on a warm October day. The last four months were everything that Hermione could have ever hoped for. Ever since_ He_ had asked her out at the beginning of the summer she had been floating on cloud nine.

_He_ stopped them under a tree on the shore of the lake closest to the castle. _He _turned to look at her, releasing her hand in the process. She looked into _His_ eyes and noticed something was off. Ever since _He_ had asked her out there had been a light in His eyes that sparkled everytime He looked at her. Now it was replaced with a look that was clouded and uncaring.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Look 'Mione, these last four months have been great. It's just that…I've found someone else."

She took a step back from _Him_. "What?"

"I'm breaking up with you."

She could almost feel the cracks forming across the surface of her heart. "Why? You told me that they only reason you ever dated anyone else was because you knew I was the one but could never get up the courage to ask me out."

"It turns out I was wrong. I've wanted to tell you for a while now but I just didn't know how to."

She felt the cracks in her heart sink deeper. "So you just decided to lead me on!" She had tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "You just decided to use me and went off and found some meaningless girl behind my back!"

"No! She's not meaningless, you were the meaningless one! Just something to keep me occupied between real girlfriends."

She felt it then, her heart shattering to pieces like a mirror hitting a wall. She stumbled back a step, looking at _Him_ with wide eyes, tears flowing freely from them now. She tried to say something but her brain was no longer forming coherent thoughts or words. She clenched and unclenched her fists and then did something she never though she would do: she slapped _Him_ across the face and then went running towards the castle.

*Present*

Hermione opened her eyes and tried to blink away the tears that had started to run down her face. It was no use and soon enough she was sitting there with her knees pulled up to her chest sobbing. The only time she would ever cry was when she was alone and she knew there was no possibility of anyone seeing or hearing her. Even though her heart was hopelessly shattered, she would never let Ronald Weasley have the satisfaction of seeing what he had done.


	2. You Found Me

_You found me_

_When no one else was lookin'_

_How did you know just where I would be?_

-You Found Me by Kelly Clarkson

Hermione didn't know how long she had sat there crying to herself, but the next thing she knew she was opening her eyes to find out she was leaning back against the wall behind her and that the sky looked different than the last time she looked up. Looking at her watch, she realized that it was now three in the morning. She shivered, realizing that the nights had started to grow colder and wished that she had thought to bring a thicker cloak or blanket with her. But the again she hadn't been planning on falling asleep outside at the highest point of the school. She sighed to herself and wondered what she would do now. She couldn't very well stay up there too much longer but she feared that someone would catch her sneaking back into her dorm after hours, and that wouldn't be setting a very good example seeing as she was Head Girl. The worst thing would be if Malfoy saw her sneaking back into their shared Head dorm, she knew he would never let her live it down. Hermione sighed to herself and stood up, stretching to loosen up the muscles that had tightened from falling asleep on the stone floor. She leaning against the wall and looked out at the landscape that sprawled before the castle. She looked towards the Forbidden forest and wished that she could be one of the creatures that lived there, with no stupid human emotions to worry about. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't know someone had joined her on the balcony until she heard the door leading inside slam closed.

Turning around, she saw the gleam of silver-blonde hair in the moonlight and groaned. Here she was worried that Malfoy may catch her sneaking back into the dorms only to find out that he had come across her on top of the astronomy tower.

"_Come to think of it_," Hermione thought to herself, "_what is he doing up here at this hour?_"

"Finally, there you are Granger." Since they had to deal with each other on an everyday basis, Malfoy had stopped calling her vulgar names and just used her last name. "I heard you leave the dorm and never heard you come back. I thought you might have fallen into some trance in the library, but you weren't there. So I've been looking around for you. There's no way you're leaving me with all the Head work to do by myself." Just when Hermione though that Draco may have a heart somewhere inside him, he went and said something that proved he was only doing something nice for his own benefit.

"What did you think was going to happen? I was going to throw myself off the tower?"

"Who knows with the way you've been moping around lately. Which is getting really annoying just so you know."

"Well sorry for having personal problems that somehow affect you even though they are none of your business," Hermione said sarcastically.

"What the hell has got you knickers in a twist, Granger?"

"Oh just shut it and leave me be you heartless ferret."

"Let me guess, problems in your perfect world of romance with Weasley?" If Hermione was miserable, Draco was going to enjoy it and get all the satisfaction he could out of tormenting her.

Hermione sent him the coldest glare he had ever gotten from her. "Don't ever mention that name around me again."

"So more than problems then?" Malfoy quite enjoyed tormenting Hermione and wasn't going to stop even if she did seem genuinely angry.

Hermione could feel herself shaking with anger. She knew that Malfoy was just taking pleasure out of pushing her buttons, but she didn't know how much longer she could go without punching him in the face. She thought briefly of telling him what was actually going on but she laughed at herself because she knew that would just give Malfoy more ammunition to use against her. She opened her mouth to try and make some snide comment but found herself saying exactly what she decided she wouldn't.

"Yes more than problems, you soulless git. He broke up with me a week ago because apparently I'm good for nothing more than a meaningless filler between 'real' girlfriends." Hermione couldn't believe she had actually just said that to Malfoy, but saying it out loud to someone actually relieved some of the depression she was feeling. She looked at Malfoy and noticed he had a look in his eyes that she could only equate to surprise and something she couldn't quite put her hands on.

"He actually said that to you?"

"…Yes."

"As if I didn't already have enough reasons to hate him, but just using someone like that is something I didn't think he was capable of."

Hermione smirked and looked at Malfoy. "So it looks like you actually do understand the difference between right and wrong. I knew there was a slim chance but I never thought it would happen."

"I'm going to let that one go because you're obviously under great emotional stress. Come on, we should head back to the dorms. I'll come up with something to explain why were out of bed if we run into anyone." Draco turned back to the door and opened it waiting for Hermione to walk through it. He turned back to look at her expectantly as she still hadn't moved.

Hermione stood there dazed by the way Malfoy was acting. She had expected him to make fun of her and laugh at her misfortune, not be so un-Malfoy-like. She shook her head and walked past Malfoy and out the door. They walked in silence back to the Head dorms and luckily didn't come across any professors. Once back inside, Hermione realized just how tired she was and was very thankful that tomorrow, well actually today, was Saturday and she didn't have to worry about getting up early. She completely ignored Malfoy as she started to make her way up the stairs to her room. As she climbed the stairs, she heard Malfoy mumble "Try to help someone and what do you get: completely ignored."

Hermione stopped on the stairs and turned around to look at Malfoy. "Thank you, Draco. Goodnight." Using his first name was the least she could do. Since she told him what had happened, he hadn't made fun of her or trying anything else that he normally would. It was surprising, but Draco had been the only one that had come looking for her and he had even admitted that he had been aware of her altered state over the last week. Maybe there was more to him than there appeared to be.

"Goodnight, Hermione." With that, they both went up to their rooms for some much needed rest.


	3. Addicted

_It's like I can't see anything_

_Nothing but you_

_I'm addicted to you_

-Addicted by Kelly Clarkson

Hermione woke up the next morning and rolled over to look at the clock on her bedside table. It read eleven in the morning and she silently thanked whatever had given her the ability to actually sleep in for once in her life. Even though she had gone to bed very late because of the events of the night before, normally she would still wake up much earlier than she had. She stood up, placing her feet in her frog slippers and stretched her stiff muscles. She shuffled her way over to the bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror grimacing. Though her hair had started to get less frizzy over the recent years, it always managed to look like a giant puffball in the mornings. Grabbing a hair elastic, she quickly pulled her hair up in a messy bun in an attempt to tame it for the time being. Going back into her room, she grabbed her fuzzy purple bathrobe that was hanging on the back of her door and pulled it on. She made her way down the stairs into the common room of the Head's dorms and was met with the smell of pancakes wafting up the staircase. Rounding the corner into the common room, Hermione looked over into the kitchen and burst into a fit of giggles. Draco was standing in the kitchen, in an apron, covered in flour and pancake batter. She tried to stifle her laughter before Draco noticed, but it was too late and he sent a glare her way, though it didn't hold the normal malice.

"I'm sorry, but this is one sight that I didn't think I would ever see." Hermione had made her way over to the kitchen and inspected the pancakes that were already done cooking. They looked and smelled good and Hermione was surprised. She never thought that Draco would ever be someone that knew how to cook.

"Let me guess, you didn't think I even knew how to cook?" Draco looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I didn't. But really who would when they know the family you come from." Hermione didn't believe that Draco would take that as a mean comment, so she was surprised when she saw a brief look of pain that flashed through his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well go ahead and help yourself, I didn't make them just for me."

It was now Hermione's turn to raise an eyebrow. Though they had been acting more civil towards each other because they had to live together and work together on a daily basis, this was much more friendly than she ever expected. She took a plate out from one of the cabinets and put a couple of pancakes on it, adding some maple syrup. Hesitantly she took a bite and her eyes widened.

"What?" Draco said, noticing the look on her face. 'This is the thing I can cook the best, you can't tell me they're bad."

"No I can't, because they're really good."

"So that's a look of shock? Not one of horror?"

Hermione smiled slightly. "Yes it's a look of shock. Who knew that Draco Malfoy could actually cook?" She stood up to grab herself a glass of milk then moved her food over to the small table just to the side of the kitchen. Draco, having grabbed his own plate of pancakes, sat down across from her and they proceeded to eat in silence. Hermione spent the time contemplating why Draco was acting the way he was. First he came to look for her last night, and then didn't mock her for her problems, and now he was cooking her breakfast. She wondered what had brought about the change in his attitude but didn't even think about asking him. She was sure if she did he would immediately revert back to his old self. Once she was done eating, she glanced at Draco and noticed he was finished as well. She stood up, grabbing his plate as well as hers and brought them over to the sink, which was enchanted to clean whatever dishes were placed in it. Once cleaned, she put the dishes back in their place and turned to regard Draco.

"Thank you, Draco."

"For what? It was only breakfast, and don't get used to it."

"Not just for breakfast. For what happened last night and being surprisingly nice to me since then."

"Don't mention it. And I literally mean that. The last thing I need is for others to hear about this."

"You don't need to worry about that. It's not like I have anyone to talk to anymore. Harry and Ginny haven't spoken to me for the last week." Hermione looked away from Draco and down at her feet. It was true, since her argument with Ron, her friendship with both Harry and Ginny had become almost non-existent. She and Ginny would nod to each other if they saw each other in the halls and Ginny would send her a sympathetic smile. Harry would barely look at her and she couldn't understand it because none of what had happened was her fault. Coming back to her senses, Hermione looked back up at Draco and gave him a small smile. "Sorry, I'm talking about things I'm sure you don't care about again." With that, Hermione walked back up to her room to shower and get dressed, the work on some of the school work she had been set.

The next month went by fairly quickly and calmly. Harry and Ginny still hadn't talked to Hermione but she had found someone new to be friends with. No matter how many times she thought of him as a friend, Hermione still had no idea why the change had come about in Draco. October had come to a close with them talking more often and being not only civil for the sake of peace, but because they both wanted to. The beginning of November had seen them having conversations about school work and how their days were and helping each other with homework. They began to joke around with each other and Hermione felt as if the person who Draco had once been never existed. Though their friendship didn't continue out into the public sphere, Hermione understood that. If that happened, both of them would be harassed by their own houses. This friendship with Draco had helped Hermione return to her original self and she found herself confiding in Draco and was surprised to find that sometimes he confided in her.

It a weekend in the middle of November when Hermione was startled by the portrait hole slamming shut. She turned to look over at it from her position on the couch where she was currently curled up reading a book and saw Draco standing there with an angry and slightly scared look on his face.

"Draco, what's…" Hermione didn't get to finish her question as Draco stormed past her and went up the stairs to his room. She flinched as the door slammed and stared questioningly in the direction of the stairs to Draco's room. She sighed and tried to return to reading, knowing that there was no point in trying to talk to him when he was like this. She would give him some time to cool down and then try to find out what was wrong and see if she could help. She found herself re-reading the same line for the fifth time and closed the book, knowing that she wouldn't be able to focus on reading as long as she was wondering what could make Draco look like that. The anger she could understand; it didn't take much to get Draco mad. It was the slight look of fear that was laced with the anger that made her wonder. There wasn't much out there that Hermione thought Draco feared and it made her wonder if it had anything to do with the way that he had been acting towards her for the last month. The change in Draco's attitude had Hermione thinking about him a lot more than she even wanted to admit to herself. She would constantly find herself thinking of Draco or looking at him out of the corner of her eye during class. She just attributed it to the fact that Draco was the only one talking to her and that the best part of her days were when she was in the Head's dorm talking to Draco.

The day slowly past by and Draco still hadn't emerged from his room, even for supper. Hermione stood at the foot of the steps with a tray of food in her hands, contemplating whether she had the nerve to knock on his door even though he clearly wanted to be left alone. Finally steeling her resolve, she walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. She waited but heard no answer, so she knocked again.

"Draco? I know you're in there. I brought you some food since I know you haven't gotten dinner yet." She waited a few more moments and then turned around to head back down the stairs. Just as she was about to step on the first stair, she heard Draco's voice call for her to come in because the door was open. Turning back around, Hermione opened the door and walked into Draco's room. She took a moment to look around all the white walls and black trim. It wasn't quite what she expected to see. She figured there would be more hints of Slytherin throughout the room. She looked over to the bed and noticed Draco lying on top of the black and sliver sheets, facing away from her. She sat the tray of food on the desk near the window and then sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Look, I know you probably don't want to talk about whatever is going on, but I just want you to know that I'm always here if you need someone to talk to." She stood up and made her way to the door.

"Hermione?" She turned around to see Draco making his way over to the food she had left him. Noticing he had gotten her attention, he gave her a feeble smile. "Thank you."

"Anytime." She smiled back and left Draco's room. Back in the common room she sank into the couch sighing. A mix of emotions flooded her system beginning with worry and ending with something she couldn't quite place. She glanced back up towards Draco's door and shook her head.

"Why have I been thinking about him so much? It must just be because he's the only one that seems to want to be my friend lately. But it's like I'm addicted to him or something, I just can't stop thinking about him." Hermione picked up her book and walked up to her room, deciding to get into her pyjamas and read in bed until she fell asleep. "Me feeling something more than friendship for Draco Malfoy. What a silly thought."


	4. Gone

_That is just so you_

_Coming back when I've finally moved on_

_I'm already gone_

-Gone by Kelly Clarkson

Three days had passed since Draco had stormed through the common room and into his bedroom. Hermione had found that his mood had improved slightly over the last couple of days but she knew that something was still bothering him and just wished that he would talk to her. Part of it was because she was curious as to what was bothering Draco, but the other part was that she thought he could benefit from getting something off of his chest, and she couldn't see him having a heartfelt talk with any of the Slytherins. Hermione smiled to herself as that thought crossed her mind. Maybe she really wanted Draco to confide in her because it meant that he may feel something for her. Over the last three days while Draco had been too distracted to talk to Hermione, she had done a lot of thinking about him. She had finally come to the conclusion that she may actually have a bit of a crush on Draco Malfoy. In the beginning she tried to deny it but the more she did that, the more she began to convince herself that she may actually feel something for him. She wasn't deluding herself into thinking that anything would ever happen between them, but it was comforting to know that after the heartache she had been through she could still come out able to care about someone else. Through the realization that she had a crush on Draco, Hermione realized that she had finally moved on past Ron and knew that disaster would not bother her again.

Hermione looked up from the book she was reading as she heard the portrait hole open and swing shut. She raised an eyebrow at Draco as he walked into the common room. He noticed her look and made his way over to the couch and sat down beside her.

"Is there a reason for the questioning look you're giving me?" Draco smirked at her as he leaned back on the couch.

"Yes there is. I'm not used to you actually being up and productive this early. Not on the weekend anyway." It was ten-thirty on a Saturday night and normally Draco would be forcing himself to do whatever homework he had. It was very rare that he was actually active this late unless he absolutely needed to be.

Draco gave a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, well I had something that I needed to take care of."

"Anything that I can help with?"

A look of pain briefly crossed his eyes, but faded quickly and he went on, not thinking that Hermione had seen. "No, it's nothing really."

Hermione had seen the look flash across his eyes and reached out and placed a hand on Draco's leg. "I know that you're probably tired of me saying this, but if there's ever anything that you need help with I'm here. Don't hesitate to ask me. Even if you just need someone to rant at to let out some steam."

Draco reached out and placed his hand on Hermione's and squeezed it gently. "Thank you Hermione. It means a lot more than you know." He stood up and walked up the stairs to his room. Hermione watched him climb the stairs and smiled sadly as he closed his door. She sighed and settled back into the couch.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Hermione jumped at the sound of a voice that shouldn't be there. She stood up, and though she knew who it was before she turned around, she was still shocked to see Ron standing by the portrait hole. The look that graced his face was one of mixed anger and confusion.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Hermione's feet were frozen in place. She couldn't believe that he would dare show himself around her let alone sneak into the Head's common room. Her eyes glanced down at his hands and noticed he was holding a piece of fabric and immediately knew it was Harry's invisibility cloak. Her eyes locked back on to Ron's face and she sent an icy glare at him. "Never mind, I know how you got in here. Now do you care to explain what you are doing sneaking into the Head's quarters?"

"I knew that you wouldn't be willingly to talk to me but I really wanted to talk to you. But that's not important right now, what the hell was all of that with Malfoy?"

"What goes on in what is supposed to be my private quarters has nothing to do with you. Didn't you think that maybe me not wanting to talk to you was a sign to stay the hell away from me."

"C'mon Hermione, can't you just let me say what I came here to say?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him expectantly. "And what exactly would that be?" She wasn't thrilled with him having snuck in to talk to her, but she figured the quickest way to get rid of him was to let him say what he came here for.

Ron's expression softened as he took a couple of steps towards Hermione. "I wanted to come and apologize for breaking up with you." Hermione's mask of indifference cracked and pain was evident in her face. "What I did and said was stupid and it never should have happened. Breaking up with you was the most horrible thing I've ever done."

Hermione gave Ron an incredulous look and shook her head. "Don't even think for a second I believe any of this bullshit you're spouting." Ron opened his mouth to say something else but Hermione stopped him. "You think you can just barge in here and give some fake apology and everything will go back to the way it was. You broke my heart Ron. You have no idea what I've gone through in this past month."

A look of shock passed by Ron's face before it was replaced by a look of anger. "It seems like you're doing fine to me. Hell you're even all close with Malfoy. What is that all about anyway? You were so distraught over me that you had to jump the closest moving thing to you?"

"Don't you dare accuse me of things that only you would do. What happened to me only being a filler between real girlfriends? Did you're latest slut grow tired of you and you couldn't find anyone else willing to be with you so you had to come crawling back to me? It's not going to happen. It doesn't matter what you say or what you do, I'm gone and I'm never coming back." By know Hermione had tears forming in the corners of her eyes but she refused to cry in front of Ron. She had cried enough over him and refused to let him dictate her emotions anymore. "And as for what you saw with Draco, it may come as a shock to you but that's how friends act. I don't know what lies you've told Harry and Ginny but you can't blame me for becoming friends with someone else when all of my other friends have abandoned me. Now get out of my dorm before I give you detention."

Ron walked towards Hermione and grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to pull her in for a kiss. Hermione pushed him off before his lips had the chance to land and slapped him. Ron stood there, a look of shock plastered on his face.

Hermione glared at him and walked over to the portrait hole, opening it and pointing out of the door. "Get out of my dorm now. I'm giving you Saturday night detention with Professor McGonagall. If you ever try to talk to me again, more will be added to that. And here I had started thinking that maybe we could be friends again; you've now ruined any chance of that ever happening." Ron made his way out the door and Hermione slammed it behind him. She made her way back over to the couch and fell down into it. Finally she let the tears come to her eyes and lay there crying. She was vaguely aware when a pair of arms slipped around her and she snuggled into the warmth that was offered.

Draco looked down at Hermione, who was currently wrapped in his arms and crying into his chest. He cradled her close and just held her as she cried herself to sleep. He had seen most of the episode between Hermione and Ron as he had left his room at the first sound of shouting. He sighed and shook his head. He didn't know what had convinced Weasley that confronting Hermione like that would be the best option. Making sure to be careful not to disturb her, he stood up from the couch with Hermione in his arms. He walked up the stairs towards her room and somehow managed to open her door. He walked over to her bed and gently laid her down, pulling the covers over her. He turned to leave, but stopped as he felt her hand grab his. Turning back around, he saw that her eyes were half open and looking up at him.

"Don't leave. Please." The look on her face made Draco want to protect her from anything that tried to hurt her. He shook his head, trying to get that strange thought out of his head. He had just become friends with her and he wasn't sure he couldn't handle even thinking of her as anything more with everything that was going on in his life. He sighed and moved to the other side of the bed. He lay down beside Hermione and she instantly curled up beside him. Within seconds her breathing had evened out again and he knew she was asleep. Draco closed his eyes, not sure if he would be able to sleep beside Hermione, who he was just now realizing he knew barely anything about. Draco though about all the things he didn't know about Hermione and eventually drifted off to sleep beside the one who occupied his thoughts.

Hermione started to stir as the morning sunlight hit her face. She was in no mood to be getting up yet and instead decided to snuggle into the warm pillow that was underneath her head. 'Wait a second,' she thought. 'Warm?' Suddenly the pillow underneath her head rose and fell gently. Opening her eyes a crack, Hermione realized that what she was laying on was not a pillow, but Draco's chest. Her face was turned up towards his and she let out a small sigh of relief when she noticed that he had not woken up yet and wasn't able to see the small blush that had crept onto her cheeks. Gently, Hermione pushed her way out of bed and quietly gathered some clothing before ducking into their shared bathroom. Laying her new clothes down on the counter, Hermione started the shower and peeled off the clothes she had slept in before stepping into the welcoming hot water. Breathing in the steam, she recalled the events of the night before. Ron had snuck in and she had yelled at him before giving him detention and kicking him out. She remembered crying on the couch and a pair of arms wrapping around her. The next thing she remembered was being set down on her bed and grabbing the hand of the person who carried her to her room and asking them to stay. So that explained why Draco was sleeping in her bed and why she had been using him as a pillow. Hermione shook her head as she turned off the water, stepped out and dried off. She couldn't believe that Draco had actually stayed the whole night and had not just waited until she was asleep to get up and leave. A small voice in the back of her head told her that he stayed because he cared for her, but Hermione pushed that thought away. While she would admit that she had a slight crush on Draco, she knew that it was something that would never become a reality. She was perfectly happy with the friendship that they had and didn't want to ruin it by trying to make it something more than it would ever be.

After getting dressed and pulling her wet hair up into a ponytail, Hermione cracked open the door that connected the bathroom to her room and stuck her head out to take a look around. Draco was no longer lying on her bed and he was no where to be found in the room. Letting out a sigh of relief, Hermione walked into her room and placed her dirty clothes in the laundry bin. She looked over to her desk and noticed the essay she had been writing the day before. She sat down at the desk and read over what she had already written. Just as she was getting ready to continue from where she left off, her stomach let out a very loud grumble alerting her to her hunger. She rolled her eyes and chewed at her bottom lip. She would much prefer to stay in her room and not have to talk to Draco about what had happened the night before. She was definitely embarrassed about asking him to stay; it was practically a sign hanging around her neck saying "I fancy you." Hermione cradled her head in her hands, knowing that hiding herself in her room was a childish thing to do and would only delay an encounter with Draco and not prevent one.

Standing up, Hermione made her way over to her door. Maybe if she was lucky Draco would be in his room and she could slip into the common room, grab some food and go back up to her room without him even noticing. She slowly walked down the stairs and silently cursed to herself when she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Draco sitting on the couch. He was lying on his back with a book in the air above his face. Hermione hoped that she could sneak by without him noticing, but as soon as she stepped of the stairs, he lowered his book and looked over at Hermione. She glanced down at her shoes and quickly made her way to the kitchen, trying to avoid Draco's stare. She could feel Draco's eyes on the back of her head while she was making some toast. Eventually she got fed up with his staring and whirled around to glare at him.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"No, not really." Draco smirked at her and returned to his book. However Hermione would not let his staring go without a proper answer to her question. She walked over to the couch and ripped the book out of his hands.

"You don't get this back until you tell me why you were staring at me." She perched herself on the arm of the couch and stared at Draco as he contemplated what to say.

He sighed and looked in her eyes. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay after what happened last night."

Hermione's mouth opened to say something, and then she closed it, not actually knowing what she should say. After a brief silence, she finally replied. "Thank you." She sent a small smile towards Draco. "I'm fine. Last night was the last time I'm going to get upset over anything Ron's done. After what he said, I realized that I really am over him and could care less about what he wants. I think my breakdown last night was more from shock than anything." She chewed on her bottom lip as she though of what she wanted to say next.

Draco smiled softly at her. "I'm glad you're over him. You deserve much better." Hermione's eyes widened in surprise when he said this and it made what she wanted to say that much harder.

"And I want to thank you for staying with me last night as well." She refused to look at Malfoy when she said this, lest she give away any of her feelings. "It really meant a lot to me."

"You're welcome." Hermione's eyes snapped up to look at Draco and she smiled. Jumping up off the arm of the couch, she leaned down and placed a kiss on Draco's cheek. Immediately she felt the blood rush to her cheeks and she quickly ran over to the kitchen, grabbed her toast and ran up to her room before Draco could say anything.

Draco sat on the couch, completely stunned by what had happened. He brought a hand to where Hermione's lips had touched his skin. He leaned back on the couch with a small smile on his face and stared up towards her closed door.


End file.
